Boys' and girls' water polo defeat West Salem Titans

Posted Oct. 25, 2022

By Katie Liang

Staff Reporter

The boys' and girls' water polo home meet on Oct. 20 went swimmingly, beating the West Salem Titans 12-8 and 12-4 respectively.

The boys' team faced a difficult start with three of their starters out and needed the players who usually rested those starters to take responsibility as leaders. Junior Bao Vuong successfully stepped up to the challenge, claiming a victory for the boys' team with his maturity skills and athleticism. Senior Kian Pease, guiding the team as one of the captains, had several key blocks allowing him to swiftly pass the ball around and providing his teammates many scoring opportunities. This match tested the boys' teamwork abilities, and freshman Austin Pham, senior Kahon Schmidt, junior Raymond Chung, sophomore Bryton Petequin, and junior Zac Young rose to the occasion as starters. The Scots came out on top, winning 12-8. The boys' water polo team is currently sitting at third place in the Mt. Hood Conference, and is preparing to play in the state playoffs in Corvallis on Nov. 6.

Due to a lack of female players on the West Salem girls' water polo team, the game was coed. Most schools in the state are struggling to field a full girls' water polo team. Fortunately, Douglas has a sufficient number of players for a girls' team, including a couple basketball players. One of the basketball players on the team, junior Ella Botner, has become an intimidating goalie in the league and successfully blocked multiple Titan score attempts during Thursday's game. The Scots had a strong lead, scoring first in the first and second quarter. By the end of the first half, Scots were up 9-3. 

Titans scored first in the third quarter, but Scots continued to stay tough on their defense, ending the third quarter with a five point lead against Titans. Sophomore Libby Buckholt carried on the Scots' lead and scored first in the fourth quarter. With 28 seconds left in the game, sophomore boys' captain Isaac Campbell scored the last point of the game and locked in the final score 12-4 Douglas. Team captains senior Holly Lippert and sophomore Minnie Hutchinson's leadership abilities helped create a strong team bond and led them to success. Many of the newer team members had the chance to play in this game and their improvement and game comprehension skills are applauded by coach Carl Tuma. Like the boys' team, the girls' water polo team is third place in the conference and is looking forward to continuing onto the state playoffs on Nov. 5 in Corvallis.

"It has been a great pleasure for the coaching staff to work with our team this year," said Tuma. "We see a very bright future for our girls team and look forward to seeing many new faces."